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Funding

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Justice Catalyst Fellowship

FellowshipUSA

Justice Catalyst

Application Deadline

December 1, 2026

Official Page

Can you apply?

Here's who can apply

Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.

“Candidates must be in their final year of a law degree (JD or LLM) from a U.S. law school, or have graduated within 2 years of applying.” Eligibility

  • Education required

    Master Enrolled · Master

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We only check the criteria we have data for. Always confirm full eligibility on the official page before applying.

Justice Catalyst, a U.S. legal nonprofit, funds one-year, project-based fellowships for new lawyers. The applicant designs a litigation project with a host — a nonprofit, union, government agency, or plaintiff-side or public interest law firm — which then employs the fellow.

Any issue area qualifies; priorities include antitrust, consumer rights, climate, decarceration, labour and access to opioid use disorder medication. The work is mainly U.S.-focused.

Benefits & funding

  • $76,000 for a one-year term, paid to the host in quarterly grants and expected to go to the fellow’s salary.
  • The host is expected to add health and fringe benefits; if it cannot, some or all may come out of the $76,000.
  • A 3–12 month extension can be requested midway through year one.
  • Possible extra funds for short projects, and seed funding to launch a nonprofit or firm afterwards.

Eligibility

  • Final-year JD or LLM students at a U.S. law school, or graduates within two years of applying; for the 1 December 2026 deadline, a JD/LLM received or due between December 2024 and summer 2027.
  • Non-attorneys are accepted in limited cases.
  • No nationality rule is stated.
  • You must partner with an eligible host: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, plaintiff-side or public interest law firm, union, or tribal, local, state or federal government agency. Non-501(c)(3) hosts involve extra steps.
  • Projects based or focused outside the U.S. need a close nexus to it.

Application process

  1. 1
    Agree a project with a host organisation; the host signs a commitment letter.
  2. 2
    Submit the full application by 1 December 2026, naming two references; letters of recommendation are not accepted. The optional prospectus round is closed for this cycle.
  3. 3
    Selected applicants interview by video in January–February 2027.
  4. 4
    Final decisions are issued by 1 March 2027.

Program timeline

  1. Full application opens

    Oct 19, 2026

  2. Application deadline

    Dec 1, 2026

  3. Video interviews

    2027-01 – 2027-02

  4. Final decisions

    Mar 1, 2027

  5. Fellowship starts, at any time during the year (most fellows start in the fall)

    2027

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